101 Books To Read Before You Grow Up

Back in 2009 I became obsessed with 1001 Children's Books You Should Read Before You Grow Up, so much so that I decided to read the 1001 books. That turned out to be quite the undertaking. I'm nearly a third of the way through. I do now realise that my life would have been much simpler if I had managed to find 101 Books To Read Before You Grow Up instead, although it was only released last year.

I was a bit surprised to find five Australian books in this list, including one of Mem Fox's lesser known titles at #4 (although the order is reading age, not numerical), but it makes sense when you learn that author Bianca Schulze is an Australian who grew up in Sydney, before living in Colorado and founding The Children's Book Review.

I came across 101 Books to Read Before You Grow Up quite accidentally when I made a spelling mistake on a search in my library catalogue. Naturally, I couldn't help myself and requested it immediately. I'm now ordering my own copy. 


1. Where The Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
2. Oh, the Places You'll Go - Dr. Seuss
3. The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
4. Whoever You Are - Mem Fox, Leslie Staub (illustrator)
5. The Seven Silly Eaters - Mary Ann Hoberman, Marla Frazee (illustrator)
6. The Story of Ferdinand - Munro Leaf, Robert Lawson (illustrator)
7. The Little House - Virginia Lee Burton
8. The Polar Express - Chris Van Allsburg
9. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Judi Barrett, Ronald Barrett (illustrator)
10. Last Stop on Market Street - Matt de la Peña, Christian Robinson (illustrator)
11. Tikki Tikki Tembo - Arlene Mosel, Blair Lent (illustrator)
12. The Snail and the Whale - Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (illustrator)
13. Journey - Aaron Becker
14. Bread and Jam for Frances - Russell Hoban, Lillion Hoban (illustrator)
15. Rosie Revere, Engineer - Andrea Beaty, David Roberts (illustrator)
16. Mango, Abuela and Me - Meg Medina, Angela Dominguez

17. The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh - A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepherd (illustrator)
18. The Paper Bag Princess - Robert Munsch, Michael Martchenko (illustrator)
19. Lon Po Po - Ed Young
20. The Hundred Dresses - Eleanor Estes, Louis Slobodkin (illustrator)
21. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst, Ray Cruz (illustrator)
22. Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad - Ellen Levine, Kadir Nelson (illustrator)
23. The Invisible Boy - Trudy Ludwig, Patrice Barton (illustrator)
24. Matilda - Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (illustrator)
25. Fantastic Mr Fox - Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (illustrator)
26. Anna Hibiscus - Atinuke, Lauren Tobia (illustrator)
27. The 13-Story Treehouse - Andy Griffiths, Terry Denton (illustrator) (see my review)
28. Charlotte's Web - E.B. White, Garth Williams (illustrator)
29. The Boxcar Children - Gertrude Chandler Warner
30. Beezus and Ramona - Beverly Cleary, Jacqueline Rogers (illustrator)
31. The Borrowers - Mary Norton, Beth and Joe Krush (illustrator) (see my review)
32. Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom - Tim Tingle, Jeanne Rorex Bridges (illustrator)
33. Rickshaw Girl - Mitali Perkins, Jamie Hogan (illustrator)
34. Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren, Michael Chesworth (illustrator)
35. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster, Jules Feiffer (illustrator)
36. The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick (see my review)
37. The One and Only Ivan - Katherine Applegate, Patricia Castelao (illustrator)
38. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum, W.W. Denslow (illustrator)
39. El Deafo - Cece Bell (see my review)
40. The Year of the Dog - Grace Lin
41. All-of-a-Kind Family - Sydney Taylor
42. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling
43. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe -  C.S. Lewis 
44. D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths - Ingri d'Aulaire and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
45. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle (see my review)
46. The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 - Christopher Paul Curtis
47. Harriet the Spy - Louise Fitzhugh (see my review)
48. George - Alex Gino
49. Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
50. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes - Eleanor Coerr, Ronald Himler

51. The Crossover - Kwame Alexander
52. The Secret of the Old Clock - Carolyn Keene
53. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi
54. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales - Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith (illustrator)
55. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Judy Blume
56. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert C. O'Brien
57. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler - E.L. Konigsburg (see my review)
58. Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
59. Because of Winn-Dixie - Kate DiCamillo 
60. Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbit (see my review)
61. A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett
62. Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls 
63. The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket, Brett Hellquist (illustrator)
64. The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
65. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney
66. Frindle - Andrew Clements, Brian Selznick
67. The Magic Pudding - Norman Lindsay (see my review)
68. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (see my review)
69. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien (see my review)
70. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
71. Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild (see my review)
72. Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie, Michael Hague (illustrator) 
73. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery 
74. The Birchbark House - Louise Erdrich
75. Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli
76. Out of My Mind - Sharon M. Draper

77. Better Nate Than Never - Tim Federle
78. Mockingbird - Kathryn Erskine
79. Hating Alison Ashley - Robin Klein (see my review)
80. Esperanza Rising - Pam Muñoz Ryan
81. My Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George (see my review)
82. Blubber - Judy Blume
83. Mary Poppins - P.L. Travers, Mary Shepherd (illustrator)
84. Holes - Louis Sachar (see my review)
85. Smile - Raina Telgemeier
86. Inside Out and Back Again - Thanhha Lai (see my review)
87. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
88. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
89. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
90. The Evolution of Calpurina Tate - Jacqueline Kelly
91. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne (see my review)
92. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
93. One Crazy Summer - Rita Williams-Garcia
94. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred D. Taylor (see my review)
95. The Arrival - Shaun Tan (see my review)
96. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank (see my review)
97. The Dreamer - Pam Muñoz Ryan, Peter Sis (illustrator)
98. Hatchet - Gary Paulsen (see my review)
99. A Long Walk to Water - Linda Sue Park
100. The Secret Garden - Franes Hodgson Burnett (see my review)
101. Wonder - R.J. Palacio (see my review)

A respectable 53/101. Of course there is considerable crossover with my 1001 list. But there are still quite a few books here that I've never heard of. I think I'll make reading this list a quiet little side project.